Outrage grows over exclusion of Jennifer Sebena from national memorial

There is much public outcry after WISN 12 News revealed Tuesday night that a slain Wauwatosa police officer won't be honored on a national memorial. Pressure is now coming from state's top law enforcement officer.

Officer Jennifer Sebena was walking to her squad car on Christmas Eve morning when police said her estranged husband shot and killed her.

The committee that decides who is honored at the national memorial will exclude Sebena because it considers her death an act of domestic violence, not a death in the line of duty.

Officers from across the state turned out to honor Sebena's sacrifice for her community. Now they're speaking out about her exclusion from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial.

Wednesday, Wisconsin's attorney general sent a letter to the head of the National Memorial asking the organization to reconsider its decision, saying it doesn't even conform to its own rules.

Its website lists officers excluded from the memorial as those who die due to natural causes, due to alcohol or substance abuse, to the officer's intentional misconduct, suicide, or to officers performing their duties in a grossly negligent manner.

"Some law enforcement officers are included because they ended up crashing their car or something else to cause their own death and they included because it's in the line of duty," Van Hollen said.

Milwaukee County Sheriff's Deputy Sergio Aleman will be honored at the national memorial. Investigators determined he died after he crashed into the rear end of a tow truck on Interstate 43.

"It's discouraging and disappointing," said Carmen Pitre of Sojourner Peace and Family Center.

Pitre said the decision sends the wrong message to officers such as Sebena, who work so hard to stop domestic violence and to those who are survivors.

"I think there are lots of ways that survivors get the message that they don't matter, that somehow it's their fault, I think this is just one more message like that," Pitre said.

The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial told WISN12 News that officials they were meeting to discuss the Sebena case Wednesday afternoon. On Tuesday, they said a meeting to discuss the decision was set for tomorrow. No calls for clarification were returned.

The decision is not sitting well with fellow officers.

“I didn’t understand why she was rejected. She was killed in the line of duty; ambushed,” said Jennifer Gerke of the Jackson Police Department. “I felt that by them rejecting her, it was putting too much emphasis on who murdered her instead of the fact that she was killed. She made the ultimate sacrifice by being killed in the line of duty.”